Valley Torah WOLFPACK Maul Cooper MACABBEES 75-43, Move Into Tier 2 Semi-Final

The final Tier 2 matchup of Friday featured the #2 Valley Torah Wolfpack and the hometown #7 seed, Cooper Macs. With a tight first quarter the Macs and Wolfpack put their best foot forward, especially on the defensive front. The first basket was only scored 2 minutes into the first quarter by Valley Torah’s Ben Riss, which started a flurry of points for the Wolpack culminating into a 19 point lead. The Macs came out a bit undisciplined, and before long they had five fouls in the quarter. Valley Torah took advantage of their large lead and began putting in some bench players to uplift team spirits after their loss yesterday. The Macs began their comeback towards the end of the first quarter with Gavi Lichter and Jonah Seigel getting baskets with under a minute left. The quarter ended with a Valley Torah up by 19 points.

The Macs opened the second quarter with a renewed sense of determination. Eli (The Jiggler) Weisfogel caught a rebound and put it right back up to begin the second quarter on the right foot. Jack Kampf took on the Cooper’s defensive front, seemingly making it his own personal mission to prevent the Wolfpack from increasing their already high lead. With Valley Torah now up by over 20 points, they continued to rotate their bench and change up the game. The second quarter wrapped up with Valley Torah on top, 38-14. Uriel Hamer had most of the scoring for the Wolfpack in the first half.

The third quarter was looking up for the Macs with Daniel Kahane starting off with a layup. The Wolfpack didn’t let that start slow them down. They continued their tight defense and offensive plays even when the Macs’ Kahane sank a 3 pointer. The Valley Torah Wolfpack continued to increase their score as the Mac’s continuously tried to catch up. Even with Wolfpack player Yaron Mahgerefteh fouling out of the game, Valley Torah was still in full control. The third quarter ended tighter than the second, though Valley Torah was still on top, 47-32.

The final quarter began with Valley Torah’s Ben Mahgerefteh driving across the court straight into a layup, continuing the games already sweet start for the Wolfpack. Though Cooper was still down 20, both teams continued to play hard down the stretch and Valley Torah remained comfortably in the lead. Things began to look up for the Macs as Gavi Lichter hit a 3-pointer. The Wolfpack’s Aaron List counters with some free throws giving the Macs more to catch up to. Valley Torah ended the game by dribbling the ball between themselves, preventing the Macs from any last second scoring. Though the Macs put up a good fight, ultimately the Wolfpack wins in a 75-43 victory. The Wolfpack move into the Tier 2 semi-final on Saturday night, while the Macs move into the Tier 2 consolation bracket. The leading scorer for the Wolfpack was Meir Dan with 16 points and the Macs were led by Jonah Siegel with 13 points in defeat.

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